


Gotta Catch A Clue!

by scarletsaber (sushibunny)



Series: Makoharu Fest 2016 [1]
Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Pokemon Fusion, Day 1, Everything is Pretty Much the Same Except Pokemon, Fluff, M/M, Oblivious Tachibana Makoto, makoharu fest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-01
Updated: 2016-12-01
Packaged: 2018-09-03 06:51:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8701717
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sushibunny/pseuds/scarletsaber
Summary: It's just another usual day of making sure he and Haru get to school on time for Makoto. But what happens at the beach where they bring their Pokemon to play after school is anything but usual.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Couldn't resist doing another Makoharu event, so here I am with some stuff for Makoharu Fest!
> 
> Day 1: Pokemon
> 
> I'm only really familiar with the first 150 Pokemon, so that's all I'm using here. Pretend Iwatobi is like Pallet Town where they don't have any other ones around :P All my Pokemon knowledge comes from the first few seasons of the anime and early games, so hopefully it isn't too off!

“Ah! We’re going to be late again, Sora! I knew I shouldn’t have let Haru talk me into sneaking into the pool last night!”

Large dark eyes watched Makoto dart around his bedroom, hurriedly throwing his school supplies into his backpack and rushing to knot his green, polka dotted tie without choking himself. Sora gave a trill of encouragement, preening when Makoto’s fond gaze turned to her, white neck ruff rising to attention.

“I guess I really shouldn’t be surprised, huh?” Makoto asked, reaching down to give her chin a scritch, earning himself a hum of pleasure. “I let him do it almost every week, don’t I?”

“Vap vap!”

Makoto chuckled. “Well, I guess it’s alright since you all enjoy it so much. Who has the most fun I wonder? You guys or Haru?”

Sora gave him a flat look and he laughed.

“You’re right, there’s no contest, really.” Makoto grabbed his bag, slinging it over his shoulder as he opened his bedroom door, ready to rush out of the house. “Sometimes I think Haru is a water type too.”

“Vapor vaporeon!” Sora agreed, hot on his heels as they bounded down the stairs.

*

“Haru! I’m coming in!”

Two pairs of eyes greeted Makoto from the surface of the bath before promptly submerging as he entered the bathroom.

“Haru, Kei! We’re going to be late! We don’t have time for this!” Makoto wailed, letting his backpack slide to the floor before approaching the tub and its two stubborn occupants.

He held out his hand expectantly as Sora leaned over with her front paws on the ledge, chittering down at Kei. Thankfully it only took a few seconds more for Haru to breach the surface, shaking water from his hair before taking Makoto’s hand with a small huff. Kei followed suit, popping up from the bath and sliding gracefully over the edge and onto the bathroom floor, ear fins flat as Sora continued to chastise him.

“Good morning, Haru-chan,” Makoto said with his usual grin, secretly enjoying the way Haru turned his head away in feigned annoyance.

“No -chan,” Haru groused, letting Makoto pull him from the tub before dropping his hand and reaching for a towel.

“Yes, yes. Please hurry, Haru. We really are going to be late.” Makoto retrieved his backpack and proceeded to fidget with the straps as Haru took his time drying off. A loud noise of displeasure from the ground made him start, eyes darting down to see Sora come barreling over and attempt to hide behind his legs as Kei shook himself dry, managing to dampen Makoto’s pants in the process. As usual. “Ah! Haru~ I thought you were going to teach him to stop doing that!”

Haru glanced up from where he was drying his arms and shrugged. “I prefer to let him be free.”

“Haru! You’re just saying that to be difficult!” Makoto accused, stopping Haru from leaving the bathroom without drying his hair- again- by toweling off his best friend’s head perhaps a bit more vigorously than necessary.

“Vaporeon!” Sora chirped in agreement.

“Mako- stop!” Haru scrambled for a grip on the larger boy’s hands, cursing the difference in their sizes- and strengths- for not the first time. His glare faltered at the bright grin he was subjected to and Haru huffed as he looked away. “My hair is fine!”

“If you catch a cold then you can’t swim,” Makoto cajoled, giving a pleased hum when Haru obediently dropped his hands and let Makoto rub the towel against his head until he was satisfied. “There! Now go get dressed, Haru, we really don’t have time for you to make breakfast this morning!”

Haru leveled Makoto with a stare, about to protest the lack of mackerel when Makoto quickly cut him off.

“If we make it to school on time we can stop by the beach after. I promise.” Makoto wasn’t sure he had seen Haru move so fast without direct promise of a pool before. Though he supposed Haru would end up in the ocean anyway, no matter how cold the water still was at the end of May, so it was probably just as good as a pool to him.

“Vap vapor!”

“And where do you think you’re going?” he asked, blocking Kei’s attempts to follow Haru upstairs.

“Vaporeon vap vaporeon!”

“Uh uh. You are still wet and I don’t care if you can turn your body into water, you could still catch a cold like this too! … Probably.” Makoto ignored Kei’s protests as he grabbed a dry towel and proceeded to rub down the sulking Pokemon. Sora sat calmly next to them, observing Kei squirm and chiding him with chirps until Makoto finished. “There! Now go hurry Haru along please, Kei.”

“Vap!”

Makoto shook his head as the Vaporeon darted off, almost as graceful on land as it was in water. Sora butted against his knee, demanding attention which he more than willingly gave, finding the spot behind her left ear that always made her purr.

“Ah, I’m sorry, sweetheart. Feeling left out?”

“Vapor vap vap!”

“Well, can’t have that now can we?” Makoto scooped her up in his arms, glad his awkwardly large frame at least allowed him to still hold his first Pokemon easily; Haru could only manage Kei if the Vaporeon draped itself around his shoulders, and even then not for long periods of time. “Let’s make sure those two haven’t gotten sidetracked, okay?”

“Vaporeon!”

He chuckled softly as she snuggled into his arms, tail wrapping around his bicep. “Haru! Kei! We really need to- oh, you’re ready?” Makoto called, surprised when he turned into the main hall to find Haru and Kei trotting down the stairs, looking ready for school.

Haru ignored the question, eyes sweeping over Sora who was purring happily in Makoto’s arms. “You spoil her too much.”

Makoto sputtered for a moment as Haru passed him, heading to the door to put on his shoes. “I do not!” he declared, even as he stroked comfortingly down the dark blue ridge on Sora’s back. “Besides, if anyone spoils it’s you! Keeping the tub always full and buying the expensive mackerel and always taking trips to the pool!” Makoto toed on his own shoes as he ranted, barely managing not to fall over in the process without the use of his arms. “Actually, maybe it’s not Kei you’re spoiling but yourself, now that I think about it,” Makoto added, suddenly thoughtful as he followed Haru outside, waiting for his friend to lock the door behind them.

Haru rolled his eyes but didn’t comment. Makoto took that as a win.

“Anyway, we should probably run if you want to visit the beach later, Haru,” Makoto said after glancing at his watch.

“You’re going to have to put Sora down then,” Haru muttered, frowning when Sora trilled in displeasure.

“I can still run faster than Haru-chan even carrying her,” Makoto teased, grinning at Haru. He was only half kidding- Haru was as slow on land as he was fast in water.

“Prove it then.”

Before Makoto could question him, Haru took off, Kei scrambling after him. Makoto stood in open mouthed surprise for a moment before he laughed, following after Haru with a smile, Sora held securely in his arms as he tried to catch up to Haru and Kei.

And if when they made it to school- on time, much to Haru’s joy- and Makoto, with Sora in his arms, had still managed to overtake Haru- to an embarrassing degree- neither said anything about it.

*

“Haru at least wait until you let them out of their Poke Balls!” Makoto cried, grabbing Haru’s arm to restrain him from continuing to strip and dive into the ocean as soon as they arrived at the small cove.

“Fine.” Haru sighed but reached into his bag nonetheless, letting out the Pokemon he was currently carrying before he finished throwing off his shirt and following Kei into the waves.

Makoto only shook his head fondly as he watched Haru and Kei float about, quickly surrounded by the rest of Haru’s Pokemon; Wartortle, Golduck, Poliwhirl, Seadra, and Starmie. He frowned slightly when Wartortle and Poliwhirl started grappling- Haru really needed to work on their tempers- but they were soon sidetracked when Golduck used Confusion on them before disappearing beneath the waves, leaving the two off balance before they decided to just swim peacefully like the rest. Makoto couldn’t tell if Haru’s Golduck Yasuko was very smart or just liked to play tricks; all he knew for sure was she certainly didn’t fit her name.

“Vaporeon?”

Makoto turned to find Sora nudging his leg. “Hmm? Oh, I guess I should let the rest of our friends out too, huh?”

“Vap vap!”

Makoto took a seat in the sand before pulling out his own Poke Balls and letting his Pokemon out. Unlike Haru, he didn’t have a pure water type roster, so he released most of them further away from the waves. His Persian immediately curled up beside him, ignoring Sora’s displeased chirp. He split a few pets between the two before Sora ran off with Hikaru, his Dragonair, to join the others in the surf.

His Ninetails and Growlithe ran along the shoreline, playing chase with each other and the waves, though it was a little more unbalanced ever since Akemi had evolved. Her increased size made the tumbling games a bit rougher than they used to be. Makoto hoped to be able to afford a Fire Stone so he could evolve Tadashi soon; he knew they’d both be happier that way.

He continued stroking Miki’s fur as he watched Sora find his Seel Toshi amongst the waves, laughing as he watched the two perform a series of complex flips and twirls as they swam. Kei soon joined them, as he usually did whenever Sora was involved, and Makoto was pleased to just sit and watch his friends have fun in the water and on the beach.

He didn’t know how much time passed before a wet form slumped down next to him, drawing a hiss from Miki before she prissily sashayed away from the source of wetness- unfortunately walking right into Akemi and Tadashi’s path and becoming an unwilling participant in their games.

Makoto knew without looking who had settled next to him. “You know, she’s never going to warm up to you if you keep doing things like that.”

“She rejects the water. I don’t know why I should try,” Haru stated, gaze out on the ocean and the Pokemon frolicking in it.

“ _Haru_!” Makoto chided, though he couldn’t help the smile that curled the corner of his lips. He cleared his throat to regain his composure. “You should try because she’s important to me,” he said seriously, peering at Haru from the corner of his eye.

Haru sighed, leaning against Makoto’s side and resting his head on Makoto’s shoulder, earning a squawk of protest from the sudden wetness, but nothing else. “I know. I will.”

Makoto smiled down at Haru, noting the pink cheeks he could barely make out, knowing his were probably similarly so. “I’m glad.”

Makoto glanced around, keeping an eye on all their Pokemon as they sat in comfortable silence. He knew they were all generally well behaved, but you never knew what could happen when twelve Pokemon had free reign together- especially with some of the more… volatile personalities of some of them. A flash of blue caught his eye, and he focused in on Sora and Kei chasing each other around the small sand dunes. The sight prompted a memory, and he turned his head slightly to look down at his friend.

“Hey, Haru.” He paused, continuing when he received a hum in reply. “I was talking to Rei the other day… He was telling me about how his older brother was studying to become a Pokemon Breeder and all about his work.”

Haru shifted slightly to look up at Makoto with one eye, silently asking him to continue.

“Well, um, Rei mentioned how he was reading up on, er, mating rituals and…” Makoto paused, swallowing thickly as he attempted to put his thoughts together into the least embarrassing words he could. “And a lot of them sound like… Like the things Sora and Kei do. Together.” He chanced a glance down at Haru who had an unreadable expression on his face before a small smile crossed his lips, confusing Makoto to no end. “Haru?”

“Sora and Kei are already mates.”

“What?! They’ve- you mean they… But they’re still so young!” Makoto spluttered, jerking back and causing Haru to nearly fall face first into the sand.

Haru shot him an annoyed look as he righted himself, shifting to face Makoto. “They haven’t… done that yet. I don’t think,” Haru said, smirking slightly when Makoto sighed heavily in relief. “But they are already together. It’s obvious.”

“Are you sure?” Makoto asked, gaze drifting over to the two Vaporeons in question. They had always been close, even before evolving. But mates?

Haru grunted, shaking his head. “Yes. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised you didn’t see it; you’re oblivious about these kinds of things.”

“Huh?!” Makoto’s head whipped back around, shooting Haru an incredulous look. “What are you talking about?!”

“It took you two months to notice Nagisa and Rei were together.” Haru deadpanned.

“Well, that’s- they were being sneaky!”

“Really. Nagisa. And Rei. Sneaky.”

“... Okay fine, maybe I don’t look too closely for these kinds of things. But that’s only one example!” Makoto said defensively, frowning at Haru who rolled his eyes.

“Two.”

“Fine, two!”

“And there’s more,” Haru added, moving over in the sand until he was at Makoto’s side again, looking around his larger friend for something.

“More?” Makoto asked, slightly worried. What else had he missed?

“What do you see when you look at Akemi and Tadashi?”

Makoto shot Haru a quizzical look before turning, following Haru’s gaze to his Ninetails and Growlithe. They were currently curled up in the sand together, napping contently after a long play session. They looked happy to him, but he wasn’t sure what Haru was getting at. “I don’t…?”

Sighing again, Haru pointed over at Sora and Kei, drawing Makoto’s gaze. “See any similarities?”

Sora and Kei were in the process of settling down, clearly tired out from their… whatever they were doing. They laid together in the warm sand, tails wrapping around each other as they cuddled- much like Akemi and Tadashi.

“But… They’ve always been close! Akemi and Tadashi are my only fire types, and I caught them around the same time. Of course they’re going to be extra friendly with each other,” Makoto reasoned, looking back at Haru.

“They clearly love each other, Makoto. And not just as friends.”

Makoto found himself looking back at the Pokemon, eyes drifting between both pairs and being unable to see a difference between them. “I… How have I not noticed before?”

Haru shrugged, clearly not as worried about the situation as Makoto. “It’s rare between different species. You’d have to pay close attention to see it.”

Makoto’s shoulders slumped as he looked down at the sand dejectedly. “What else have I missed? I’m a bad trainer.”

“No you aren’t.”

Makoto’s head jerked up. He had never heard Haru so determined before. His tone brooked no argument. Still… “But-”

“No. Makoto is the most kind, attentive trainer I know. Don’t ever say such things about yourself again.” Haru’s eyes were set and firm as he stared at Makoto, and Makoto found he couldn’t bring himself to deny Haru’s words. “No one’s perfect, and it’s okay for you to miss one thing when you notice everything else.”

“Thank you, Haru-chan.” he said softly, smiling at the grumbled “drop the -chan” he received in reply. “Are there any other relationships I’m missing?” Makoto asked, unable to ignore the niggling thought at the back of his mind.

Haru hesitated, looking at Makoto intensely before he replied. “... Maybe.”

Scooting closer, Makoto grabbed Haru’s hand insistently. “Tell me, Haru. _Please_.”

Haru flushed a bright red, turning his head away before he answered. “What do you see when you look at me?”

Makoto tilted his head in question, unsure what Haru meant. “I don’t understand?”

With a heavy sigh, Haru looked back at him, blue eyes locking with green and Makoto felt the air rush out of his lungs as he read the words he saw there as clearly as if Haru had spoken them aloud.

“ _Oh_.”

When no other words were forthcoming from Makoto, Haru grew unsure, beginning to shift away and pull his still held hand back. He stilled when the grip on his hand tightened, his eyes darting back up to Makoto’s. What he saw there stole his breath away too.

“I’m sorry I didn’t notice sooner, Haru,” Makoto said softly, giving an apologetic smile. “I just never thought I’d see it, so I convinced myself not to look.”

“Idiot Makoto,” Haru muttered, blushing as he tried to turn away again.

“Ah ah, no way, Haru. I’m not letting you go now that I know.” Makoto took advantage of his superior strength, tugging Haru towards him and grinning when Haru gasped as he was pulled practically into Makoto’s lap.

Haru frowned up at him for a moment before a sly smile curled his lips. “Does this mean Makoto wants to be my mate?”

He was rewarded with a red and stammering Makoto, who couldn’t form a proper sentence- or stop trying to form one- until Haru finally took pity and leaned up, pressing his lips to Makoto’s in an effort to quiet him. And it was definitely effective, as it only took a moment for Makoto to respond in kind, wrapping his arms securely around Haru and humming happily against his lips.

Makoto ended up overcompensating as he attempted to pull Haru even closer as they continued to kiss, both of them falling back into the sand. They wound up laughing, curling together in mimicry of their Pokemon and enjoying the rest of the afternoon- and their new relationship- wrapped up in each other’s arms.

**Author's Note:**

> If you enjoyed you can go vote for it by liking and/or reblogging it [here](http://theofficialmakoharufestival.tumblr.com/post/153901990690/gotta-catch-a-clue-day-1) :) 
> 
> If you're curious about the meanings for all the Pokemon's names (yes, I did spend an absurd amount of time picking them out), you can check them out [here](http://www.20000-names.com/female_japanese_names.htm)
> 
> I'm planning to write as much as I can for this, though 25 days is too much even for me! But if you've got some requests/prompts for [any of the days](https://68.media.tumblr.com/97b5220d04cc6896ff2e0a38bd673d34/tumblr_ofn6k5eFPP1u7cmkwo1_540.jpg) send me a message here or on [my tumblr](http://makotothecinnamonroll.tumblr.com/) and I'll see what I can do (I live for prompts, people) :)


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